Region of Waterloo and partners win the Peter J. Marshall innovation award
Waterloo Region – The Region of Waterloo along with York Region, the Cities of Brampton, Burlington and Hamilton, the Town of Oakville, and the London Transit Commission have jointly received the Peter J. Marshall Innovation Award at the 2012 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) annual conference in Ottawa. The award recognizes the Transit Inventory Management Services (TIMS) project - an initiative that involves multiple transit authorities consolidating their parts procurement through a single North American supplier.
“On behalf of the participating municipalities it is a great honour to receive this prestigious award,” said Charles Whitlock, Director, Procurement and Supply Services at the Region of Waterloo and Chair of the TIMS project. “This project is a result of supply chain specialists and senior transit staff working together for two years to create a process that works.”
TIMS is the first initiative involving the consolidation of parts procurement for multiple transit systems through a single supplier in North America. This Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) model reduces administration costs, uses economies of scale to save participating municipalities money, increases efficiency, and reduces the supply chain’s carbon footprint. This new model allows for a more stable and streamlined supply chain, where fluctuations in inventory space and financing are absorbed by the supplier rather than the transit system.
“This coordinated purchase of bus parts gives our industry greater leverage to negotiate better pricing and to ensure the parts are available as needed which ultimately supports Grand River Transit’s goal of providing cost effective and reliable transit services in Waterloo Region,” said Eric Gillespie, Director, Transit Services, Region of Waterloo.
The Peter J. Marshall Innovation Award was accepted on Tuesday, August 21 at the 2012 AMO Annual Conference by Charles Whitlock, Director, Procurement & Supply Services at Region of Waterloo and Kim Dooling Manager, Purchasing and Risk Management at the Town of Oakville, The award recognizes municipal governments who have demonstrated excellence in the use of innovative approaches to improve capital and/or operating efficiency, and to generate effectiveness through alternative service delivery initiatives and partnerships.
About the Winners
The Region of Waterloo’s transit system (Grand River Transit) has a fleet of 218 buses with two garages, providing over 19 million passenger trips per year.
The City of Brampton’s transit system (Brampton Transit) has a fleet of 263 buses with two garages providing 13.8 million passenger trips per year.
The City of London’s Transit Commission (London Transit Commission) has a fleet of 191 buses with two garages providing 21.2 million passenger trips per year.
The Town of Oakville’s transit system (Oakville Transit) has a fleet of 89 buses with one garage providing over 2.6 million passenger trips per year.
The City of Burlington’s transit system (Burlington Transit) has a fleet of 52 buses with one garage providing over 1.9 million passenger trips per year.
The City of Hamilton’s transit system (Hamilton Street Railway) has a fleet of 217 buses with one garage providing over 21.2 million passenger trips per year.
The Region of York’s transit system (York Region Transit) has a fleet of 437 buses with four garages providing over 19.3 million passenger trips per year.
About AMO
AMO works to make municipal governments stronger and more effective. Through AMO, Ontario’s 444 municipalities work together to achieve shared goals and meet common challenges. Through our policy development, cost-saving programs, conferences and training opportunities, AMO provides municipal officials with tools to succeed, and programs to help maximize taxpayer dollars.
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Media Contact:
Bryan Stortz, Director of Corporate Communications, Region of Waterloo, 519-575-4408 Bstortz@regionofwaterloo.ca